In previous years, in September, the south at this time should still be scorching in summer, but I don't know what's going on, this year's weather seems to be very abnormal, just in September, the weather is rarely starting to get cooler, especially the non-stop light rain in the past few days, which adds a bit of chill to the air.

In the dark of the night, a light rain kept falling, making the whole land wet.

There is a large woods in an unnamed wilderness near Huai'an Mansion, this forest is close to the swamp, because of the touch of poisonous insects and beasts, so few people visit on weekdays, but in the past two days, this place that was flooded with poor mountains and bad water by the people of Huai'an Mansion suddenly came a large number of people, and they actually stayed here.

In the dark night, piles of bonfires are lit, and the light of the fire dispels the darkness and brings warmth.

Under a big tree that can be hugged by seven or eight people, a bonfire is burning, because it has rained for several days, and the firewood has just been cut and has not yet dried, so the fire is not very big, and it keeps coming out of smoke, so that the people around him keep coughing.

Li Zicheng, who has been on the run for more than half a month, leaned against the big tree and closed his eyes to recuperate, and today's Li Zicheng no longer has the high-spirited momentum of the past.

The old felt hat with a white pointed top could no longer see its original color, and a half-old green cloth sheepskin robe covered with iron armor was also full of mud, and there was still a long knife and a cowhide quiver and a dozen arrows hanging from his waist.

To say that this vermilion lacquer painting gold is amazing, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Comrade Lao Zhu, has made a decree, except for the emperor, no one's quiver is allowed to paint gold, and the violator will be executed. And this quiver Li Zicheng has been wearing since he became a rogue, which shows that Li Zicheng has long had an anti-will in his heart.

Sitting opposite Li Zicheng is Liu Zongmin, this fierce general who has always been lustful for killing and lustful now has no arrogance in the past, like a defeated public accumulation board sitting on the side with his head down, and the clothes on his body are also tattered, which shows how embarrassed he is these days.

Sitting next to Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin is Li Laiheng, this Li Zicheng's hardcore henchmen are much worse than Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin, although these two look quite embarrassed, but their complexion is at least normal, but Li Laiheng not only looks gray, but his left hand is also hung on his chest with a strip of cloth, and the strip of cloth that ties his arms is also dyed red.

"Ahem...... cough cough cough ......"

A gust of wind blew around Li Laiheng, causing him to cough.

Hearing that Li Laiheng was coughing so badly, Li Zicheng asked with concern: "Brother Laiheng, are you okay, or I will ask Dr. Liu to come over and help you take a look." ”

Li Laiheng coughed and waved his hand, "Ahem...... Ahem...... No...... No need to break the king, Dr. Liu has been busy for a day, let him rest, if even Dr. Liu is tired, there will be no one to see us again.

Besides, now that Dr. Liu has no medicine in his hand, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and even if Dr. Liu comes, there is no way. ”

"Hey ......"

Liu Zongmin slapped his palms and said hatefully: "The Jiang Ning Army on the dog day is like a ghost that does not go away, we haven't had a good rest for a day these days, if we don't find a place to replenish food and supplies, we will have to be exhausted if we continue like this." ”

"yes."

Li Zicheng's face also had a trace of sadness, it had been more than half a month, and those Jiang Ning troops were biting them like appendages.

The number of people around Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, and Li Laiheng has also decreased from the initial five or six thousand to less than 1,000 now, which shows how much they have lost in the past half a month.

Li Laiheng's arm was injured by the gunfire of the Jiang Ning Army in a battle a few days ago, and due to the lack of medical treatment, his arm is now swollen like a carrot, and the doctor said that if he continues like this, he will probably not be able to save this arm.

Of course, although they are distressed by the repeated defeats, this is not the thing that worries them the most.

Past experience tells them that there are too many people who can't afford to eat these years, as long as they are given a period of time to take one or two county seats, there will be as many people as there are, and what worries them the most is that there is not much food left in them, which is the most fatal.

Originally, they thought that there was no food, and they could still send people to hunt in the woods or mountains as before, although it was not as good as before, but they could always fill their stomachs, but these days they found that the difference between this Jiangnan and the Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other places they passed through in the past is too great.

The north is mostly plains and hills, and even in the wild, some wild beasts can be hunted to satisfy hunger, but Jiangnan is different.

Although today's Jiangnan is known as the rich world, there are still many wilderness uninhabited, full of swamps and lakes, which are full of poisonous snakes, crocodiles and many unknown poisons, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as full of dangers, if people step into it, they may die if they are bitten by a poisonous insect.

Although the Jiangning army chased closely and killed a lot of people these days, in fact, most of the attrition was caused by those poisonous snakes and unknown poisonous insects, fierce beasts and swamps.

In such an environment, let alone hunting to satisfy hunger, it would be good to survive. only can't get in and out, plus people eat horses and chew, and now the food is only enough for the team to eat for two days, which also makes Li Zicheng feel sad.

Seeing Li Laiheng's pale face, Liu Zongmin couldn't hold it back any longer, and lowered his voice and said, "King Chuang, brother Laiheng...... Why don't we take our brothers out and do a good job. I've calculated, we are only less than a hundred miles away from Taoyuan County, and we can arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest by marching overnight, as long as we can take Taoyuan County, our righteous army can breathe a sigh of relief. ”

"No way!"

Li Laiheng hurriedly said: "Now that the Jiang Ning army is chasing so closely, especially those who don't close at night, their noses are smarter than dogs, once they find out their whereabouts, it will be difficult to escape with our current situation." ”

"What to flee from, once you take Taoyuan County, you will be able to find a place to stay, as long as you can give us twenty days to a month, I will have the confidence to pull out another team of ten or twenty thousand people, are we afraid that those few will not be accepted at night?"

Li Laiheng retorted: "But what if the Jiangning Army's brigade is attracted, can those rabble resist them?" A month ago we had 70,000 or 80,000 horses, where are we now? ”

Hearing this, Liu Zongmin hung his head and remained silent.

"Bang ......"

At this moment, a crisp gunshot rang out in the distance, followed by a series of gunshots......